The Yellow House
by Iris Kane
Summary: Sequel to: Stranger in a Strange Land. While dealing with the ups and downs of an everyday life, which includes Taylor's 3-year-old son Byron, Taylor and Sophia contemplate adding to their family. Once this is decided they are faced with a whole new set of challenges.
1. Chapter 1-A Step Forward

**So here it is-finally-the sequel to**_** Stranger in a Strange Land**_**. Sorry it took me so long to get it up but a lot has happened since I finished the original story and I've been quite busy.**

…

**Chapter 1-A Step Forward**

"Mommy, Mommy!" My 2-year-old son Byron cried as I came home from my daily classes at the local university. Despite the cooling temperatures, my son and his sitter were on the porch awaiting my arrival, the sight made me smile. The fact that the girl was even allowed within the Atrian housing project had been a miracle in itself. The girl was no older than I was, of course I was only 19, having had Byron when I was 17. So much had changed since then it's still blew my mind.

The legislation for pro-Atrian laws was moving forward and the laws permitting humans to interact with them was better than it had been almost 3 years ago. Among other things, I had discovered I was gay and was now in a relationship with my best friend's boyfriend's sister. Sophia and I were happy and we were already talking about expanding our family.

Our mothers tried to dissuade us from this however the argument being: your barely out of your teens, let alone out of school why bring another baby into it; that's a lot of responsibility. It was, however, responsibility I knew Sophia and I could handle, we had been handling more than a typical amount of work for a couple our age for over a year. We argued we both had steady jobs and there was someone to always watch Byron and any additional children, it was this reasonable argument that left no doubt in our mothers' minds (although they still weren't thrilled with the idea).

With these thoughts forefront in my mind once again I made my way up to the house, and was met halfway by Byron who latched his tiny arms around my knees. Once he made sure I wasn't going anywhere he looked up at me his eyes and face the spitting image of his father, another acquaintance of mine, an Atrian by the name of Drake.

My sitter, a girl named Megan chuckled.

"He's been waiting for you since he got up from his afternoon nap. I had to make him wait inside because it was raining earlier."

I smiled at my son and reached down to pick him up while Megan followed us back to the house, waiting for me to get the money I always owed her.

"What time is Sophia supposed to be home?" Megan asked, although I figured she already knew by now having been my sitter for the past 8 months.

"Five." I answered, as I shifted Byron on my hip and unlocked the door. "She said something about stopping at City Hall with Roman before she came home."

Megan nodded mutely. She had chosen to roll with the lifestyle in which Sophia and I found ourselves, it didn't bother her that we were a lesbian couple or the fact that my girlfriend was an Atrian, while she didn't support the integration out right, she didn't oppose it either… She was simply neutral.

After I sent Megan on her way I busied myself preparing the house for dinner and Sophia's homecoming. I amused Byron with a video while I did so and before I knew it (just as the credits were rolling on the cartoon) I heard Sophia's key in the lock. Byron, however had already beat me to the door and was repeating the greeting he had given me with Sophia.

"Mama, your home! Can we eat now?"

Sophia chuckled and I smiled as she came up to me, looping her arms around my neck and kissing me softly; the look in her eyes promising of things later.

Sophia smiled down at Byron.

"What are we having for dinner Byron?" She asked.

"Pizza!"

"No," I reprimanded softly, "what are we really having Byron?"

"Getti-loaf!" My son replied promptly.

"Getti-loaf" was my son's name for lasagna, since he couldn't quite say the word, which always made Sophia and I laugh. I chuckled, ruffling his hair as he ran past me, presumably off to amuse himself with his toys. As soon as he had disappeared I turned to Sophia.

"How was your day?" I asked.

Sophia shrugged, her normally bright face somewhat subdued.

"Okay. Roman, Drake and I are still trying to put through legislation on that bill to get Atrians into the universities like they did with the high schools."

In the past few years since Byron's birth it had become Roman, Drake's and Sophia's mission to put through local legislation on laws to benefit the Atrians, which, as I had a partner of such I fully supported.

"So how are the things for the…" I looked around making sure my son was otherwise occupied, "surprise party."

This time Sophia full out grinned, her brown eyes sparkling.

"Got you covered." She replied before kissing me on the cheek, "Party's set to go down at Lollies on Thursday."

Lollies was Sophia's business she had opened shortly after Byron was born. She had become so proficient at throwing parties someone had suggested she start a business and that's exactly what she did, with a little help from a few friends we got together the funds to rent a space and get supplies; it took a while but Lollies had proven to be a productive venture.

It was 8:30 PM by the time we put Byron down for the night and he was using one of the few words he had learned in Atrian from Sophia and Drake to great effect; a favorite word of most 2-year-olds; no.

"Why did you, Roman and Drake have to teach him that?" I groaned, at Sophia out of the side of my mouth as my son continued to run down the hallway screaming.

"I think it's important he knows both sides of his heritage, both human and Atrian." Sophia replied succinctly. She was right of course, so I didn't argue.

After about 15 or 20 minutes Byron settled down and (reluctantly) climbed into bed, while I turned on his nightlight and Sophia read him a story. Afterwards this left Sophia and I to our own devices in which we could do as we pleased.

"Have you given any thought to what I mentioned before?" I asked.

Sophia brightened.

"I think it's a great idea, but who's going to carry the baby?"

"We'll have to discuss that." I smiled at her as we curled up on the couch and Sophia started the movie, "Let's get through Byron's third birthday first… One kid at a time."

The morning of Byron's third birthday, in early September, dawned chilly and sunny and a small knot of enthusiastic friends and family had gathered at Lollies to celebrate. The small cozy store was decked out for a party befitting a 3-year-old. Sophia had outdone herself not only as Byron's mom but as the exquisite party planner she had become. The back room of the store was strewn with a long table, balloons, and orange and green streamers. The odds and ends of party favors were a mishmash of dinosaurs and superheroes, and odd combination, but not unusual for a toddler.

Sophia and I had done everything we could to keep the party a secret and had waited until the last minute to tell Byron what we were doing. Needless to say he was still bouncing with excitement as we tied the blindfold around his eyes and made him wait as we led him into the store and Sophia removed the blindfold and showed him the party spread she had come up with.

Everyone in the store shouted.

"Surprise! Happy birthday Byron!" And my son squealed and giggled and then his eyes grew around as he took in the large cake my mother had commissioned from the local bakery and the large pile of presents behind all of Sophia's decorations.

The party was about as normal as one could expect I guess, and after we all sang "Happy Birthday" Sophia's mom and my mom took turns dishing out birthday cake to the guests.

It had taken a while for Sophia's mom to warm up to being around people, after everything that had happened before and since Byron's birth she was still wary of humans, but for her grandson and her daughter I was pretty sure she would do just about anything.

While Byron was occupied with his friends from his daycare group, which he went to on alternate Fridays, Sophia and I talked with the other adults as we played absently with the deflating balloons. We managed to have a good 10 minute conversation before the children began to fuss and Sophia suggested it was time to open presents.

It was hours later before everything wound down, while Byron was still preoccupied with his new toys. Drake and Roman had given him a simple necklace with some sort of carved Atrian symbol on it, while the mother in me wasn't sure it was appropriate for 3-year-old, Sophia and Drake assured me there was no way he could pull it off the cord it was on. Sure enough by the time we got home Byron was sound asleep in his car seat surrounded by his toys his hand clutching the wooden charm Roman and Drake had given him. The scene brought a smile to my face.

After a busy day I was relieved when I finally climbed into bed. Sighing, Sophia climbed in next to me. There would be no lovemaking tonight, I was too tired, besides I had other things on my mind.

"Sophia? About that thing we discussed a couple of weeks ago…?"

In response Sophia giggled.

"Honestly Taylor! You've got a one track mind! One kid and you have babies on the brain."

I laughed, shrugging, slightly embarrassed. I guess she was right.

Sophia rolled over and kissed me, a kiss that became lingering and heated as the moments progressed.

"I'm still thinking about it okay… Let's wait until after the holidays and will talk about what to do next after Christmas," she kissed my temple, "I promise."


	2. Chapter 2- Family Dinner

**Chapter 2-Family Dinner**

Following the holidays, when I had one happy three-year-old with more toys than he could possibly play with (but that was what he got for being the only grandchild in either family) Sophia and I resumed our discussion of adding to our family and how to go about it.

It was I that brought out the entire discussion about in vitro or surrogacy, but neither was cheap and I wasn't sure if Sophia and our parents would go for all that. So once again I was left browsing the Internet for options, as I had been taken to doing lately when I wasn't working or in school. Surrogacy seemed to be the cheaper option, but then there was fees for this and fees for that and more often than not I was left scratching my head wondering where to turn next.

Sophia and I were having such a discussion one night after Byron had gone to bed, it was one of the few times we could actually talk and have conversations that didn't revolve around dinosaurs, superheroes or children's cartoons.

As I was, once again hunched over my laptop, which was really nothing more than a glass tablet (old-school laptops had been discontinued sometime in 2030) the living room was dark except for the light coming from the device, I stared at the screen, flipping through windows with Sophia reading over my shoulder.

"How can you be sure they would even consider us, Taylor? There were problems with same-sex couples even ten or twenty years ago before we even arrived." Sophia's comment broke me out of my thoughts.

"Same-sex couples have had babies before," I assured her, "check the library archives, it's happened."

Sophia didn't answer, she only nodded and I knew she was thinking, choosing at the moment not to voice her thoughts.

"The in vitro is expenses… We don't have that kind of money even with our salaries put together." Sophia murmured.

Now it was my turn to nod, only making a small "hm" noise in the back of my throat.

"I did some reading though," I added, "we could buy sperm ourselves and we could bypass the doctor\hospital thing… It would be cheaper, only a few hundred dollars versus a few thousand."

"So we would need to find a donor then?" Sophia asked.

"Yeah." I replied, "we could pretty much pick anything we wanted hair color, eye color height, interests etc. just as so long as the guy's healthy, which I guess they would already screen for."

"Well it's something to consider," Sophia murmured as she rested a hand on my shoulder, "we're still going to need a guy for this regardless, even with all the medical advances since we've been alive they still haven't managed to allow solo reproduction in humans... it still doesn't work that way." She chuckled quietly.

I smirked.

"Yeah, no kidding."

Among other discussions was who would be the carrier for our child. Sophia and I had pretty much decided she would be the one to get pregnant, even though it had been a few years since my pregnancy with Byron, I wasn't eager to repeat the experience (at least not yet). Having come up with a game plan, (if not the exact specifics) of what we were going to do over the next few months Sophia and I both knew it was time to break the news to the people that really mattered-our mothers.

Our next opportunity to voice our thoughts on expanding our family was arose some time in the second week of January when my mother invited us over for dinner. This was a regular occurrence and had been since Byron was about a year old. It was an excuse for Sophia and I to get out of the Atrian housing project and get back to "average" human civilization, which given where we had gone to school and been around for most of our teenage lives was what we both preferred. It was also an opportunity for my mother to see Byron who she only saw a few times a week since she didn't care to come down to the Atrian housing block; which I had always found too pristine with the manicured lawns and the evenly spaced yellow houses. As soon as legislation went through for the Atrians to live elsewhere Sophia and I intended to do so, even if that only meant moving a few miles away in the other direction.

Currently, Sophia and I were sitting outside my mother's house while Byron babbled away in Atrian from his car seat in the back, but I knew he was getting restless singing the little song Sophia had taught him only kept him occupied for so long. He had a bag of toys to play with, but he was currently banging on the back window impatiently.

"Grandma, grandma!" He sang and Sophia and I looked at each other and smiled.

"You ready for this?" I asked.

Sophia shrugged.

"Why you so nervous?" She asked, "it's not like we haven't had dinner with your mother before."

"Because the entire rest of our lives hinges on this impending conversation. I would hate to do something and have my mother hate me for the rest of my life for making what she thought was a bad decision."

Sophia smiled again, and gave me an encouraging peck on the lips.

"She can't be looking out for you forever she has to trust you sometime."

I nodded and opened the driver side door knowing she was right. I had rearranged my face into a suitable expression by the time I had gotten Byron out of the car and the three of us were walking up the drive to the door.

Well here goes nothing, I thought, as the door opened.

The scene was like any other family dinner. My mother at the end of the table (where I have a vague memory of my father sitting) and Sophia, Byron and I sitting on the other side, Byron sitting in a chair with a booster seat between us. Tonight it was chicken fried steak, collard greens, and mashed potatoes; Byron had eaten everything except his greens which he was picking at and pretending they were long dribbles of monster snot.

For the moment, providing he wasn't flinging the collards across the table I ignored my son; I had other things on my mind.

It was after dinner, when Byron was otherwise occupied I broached the topic I had been waiting all evening to discuss with my mother.

"Mom, you know Sophia and I are thinking about having another baby…" I came right out and set it, it was the most effective way to get the conversation started.

My mother sighed.

"Oh Taylor, are you sure? You two are so young, you have plenty of your life ahead of you to have a baby particularly after you both have full-time jobs."

This time it was Sophia that came to my defense, as she always had a habit of doing.

"Mrs. Holland, Colleen," it was only the second or third time I had heard Sophia use my mother's first name, "I _have_ a full-time job, I run Lollies."

"I mean a _real_ job," my mother stated emphatically, "none of these flights of fancy you girls have had going on since you met."

Sophia's eyes flashed and I knew she was pissed.

"To me, this is a real job, AND I support my family; I'm sorry, but this is what I want to do and I enjoy it."

"And certainly you running around with all your political agendas isn't helping," my mother fussed, "your home so late Sophia."

"No later than you are!" Sophia flared, in a rare display of anger. "And the only home late if the stuff in the local offices runs late, and even then I could have Roman or Drake cover for me if absolutely necessary, their schedules are a little bit more flexible than ours."

My mother nodded begrudgingly, finally conceding the point.

"So what do you plan to do?"

"A sperm donor." Sophia interjected, "we're probably going to try to do the insemination ourselves, just to save on money."

My mother looked skeptical but she didn't say anything.

"What about money?" My mother asked bluntly.

"I've had some set aside since last summer." I offered, "when Sophia and I start putting our money together in the next few months we should have enough… At least for the initial cost of the sperm."

My mother sighed.

"Okay, just let me know if you need any help." She leaned over and kissed me on the temple… "Whatever makes you happy."


	3. Chapter 3-Designer Baby

**Chapter 3-Designer Baby: Phase 1**

My days had worn into a well established routine over the past two years. I got up, got Byron ready, waited for the sitter and left for a 10 o'clock class at the local community college. I was in the process (almost done I might add) with completing a degree in journalism, with what Roman and Sophia were doing to forward the well-being of their species at least someone could write about it for the local paper.

While I had failed to land a part-time job at the paper, I was currently working retail at the mall, which was good enough for now, that as soon as I had my degree I intended to apply for an internship as soon as I could.

I was sitting in the campus library at the moment working on my sociology homework, one of my classes right now that didn't involve journalism elements. It was one of those things that was a basic class one requirement for the entire degree that just needed to be gotten out of the way. As I sat there in the not so comfortable chairs I stared dumbly at my computer screen waiting for an idea to come to me.

Unfortunately, nothing came.

Groaning in frustration, I clicked over to the web browser and typed "sperm donors, Louisiana" into my favorite search engine.

Thousands of results came up and it took a few minutes to scroll and glance at each one before making up my mind. I looked at the locations of a few of the listed sperm banks and there were a few nearby, the closest one was thirty or forty minutes away from where Sophia and I lived.

Grabbing a piece of scrap paper (I was supposed to be making notes on) I scribbled down a couple of the websites, making a note to show Sophia later. I didn't have time to browse them right now, technically we weren't supposed to browse when we were working in the library unless it was school work related. Quickly I clicked off the Internet browser and returned to the Word document that was my unfinished sociology paper. Two thirds down the page the cursor blinked at me, while the first two paragraphs had come easily my second point in my paper wasn't coming so quickly; I made a mental note to find the loose outline I had scribbled out in class. It was probably somewhere in the bottom of my bag or shoved in a folder somewhere forgotten.

I glanced at the clock, it was unfortunately only quarter to one and I had almost 3 and a half hours before I was done for the day. Then after that it was off to the mall for another two or three hours, today I wouldn't be done until close to 7 PM. Sophia would be watching Byron tonight, the sitter was off at five.

Today was proving to be a very long day.

It was almost 8 PM by the time I had finished my very late dinner and sat down with Sophia. I had said good night to Byron before returning to the kitchen. Today was one of those days I didn't like, when I wasn't home at a respectable hour to play with my little boy and didn't walk in the door until he was ready to go to bed.

I was just finishing up my sandwich when Sophia spoke.

"So, how was your day?" She asked in a way that told me she wanted to know what was going on, but she also wanted me to talk, just talk since we hadn't seen each other all day.

I shrugged.

"Long day at school and they're busting my butt at work… My supervisor wanted me there till seven even though I had been there since three thirty. She wants to put out Halloween stuff… Of all things."

"Halloween? Already?" Sophia shook her head.

"Welcome to the world of commercialism." I muttered dryly.

Then I remembered what I had discovered when I was in the school library.

"Oh, I was looking at some stuff on sperm donors today, there's a couple of good places around here." Digging around in my bag I pulled out the paper I had scribbled the websites on.

"What did they have?" Sophia asked.

I shrugged.

"I don't know yet, I didn't look, I was right in the middle of doing my sociology paper and I didn't want my professor or the librarian to yell at me."

To my amusement Sophia grinned, and I already knew she would've done the same thing had she been in my situation.

A short time later Sophia and I resumed our position from a few weeks before, perusing the Internet for information. I quickly learned our search wasn't so cut and dry. Most sperm banks didn't ship and the closest one who did was hours away in a different state.

Sophia looked at the websites aghast.

"So what's our option now?"

"There's that clinic in Mississippi?" I offered.

"They may have what we want, but it's too expensive and too far."

I nodded. She had a point.

"If only there was a search engine for sperm donors that told you which ones could be shipped or not."

As luck would have we did find something like that. Profiles of thousands and thousands of men; hair color, eye color, height, weight etc. none of these people however were listed by name, like many sperm donors everything was confidential and they were only listed by a number.

Sophia shook her head.

"This is too much." She murmured.

We don't have to make a decision right now." I replied soothingly, "There's no rush, not until we know exactly what we want."

"If only there was a way to narrow it down." Sophia mused.

"Well," I began, "what do we want the baby to look like?"

"Like both of us, try to find a guy that has similar coloring to us."

Just as I was keying in the search the clock in the living room struck ten.

Sophia looked up.

"Guess we better get to bed," she leaned down, kissing the top of my head, "it's been a long day babe."

I yawned in agreement stretching a kink in my back from being hunched over a computer for so long. She was right, besides I would be able to think more clearly about what to do about the sperm donor in the morning.

As I lay down in bed I turned over Sophia's suggestion in my mind. She was right of course, we had to find a donor that was similar to us, because I wasn't just letting any average Joe give his genes for our baby. This was officially our first child together and I wanted it to be special.


	4. Chapter 4-Sophia at Lollies

**Chapter 4-Sophia at Lollies**

It was Friday, that meant after my shift at work Byron and I met Sophia at Lollies. It was a sunny day for the middle of February, but any "nice day" at this time of year I would take.

Byron squealed when I came home early. Behind him, Megan, the sitter, ran to keep up chuckling as she went.

"All he's been talking about is going to Mama's shop." She said with a smile.

I shrugged, chuckling in return, "He knows it's Friday, we always go to Sophia's shop on Friday afternoons since she works later, no city meetings today."

I ruffled my son's hair.

"Right buddy?"

Byron looked up at me with wide eyes, the bright eyes of a child who thought he knew everything.

"Right!" He confirmed.

I handed Megan her daily salary as we headed for my car, thanked her again, and then fasten Byron into his car seat and headed for Sophia's shop on the other side of town.

Sophia's shop was in full swing when we arrived. When we walked in, Sophia was helping a customer; her assistants, Lori, Karen and Mark were also busy.

As soon as Sophia saw me she held up one finger that said "just a minute", and finished what she was doing before heading over to me, saying a quick word to Karen and Mark she was taking a break.

As soon as he was able Byron ran over to Sophia.

"Mama, mama!" He exclaimed, throwing his small arms around Sophia's neck as she bent down to hug him.

Sophia chuckled.

"How's my best buddy?" She asked.

My son grinned in response.

"Great!" He replied.

Smiling, Sophia looked up at me.

"Taylor, I got something to show you." Then she turned it to my son, "Byron, sweetie, why don't you help Karen, your mommy and I have to talk."

Byron gave her a quizzical look before nodding and running over to Karen. He loved helping out at the shop, even though sometimes he did more harm than good, but I knew Sophia didn't really care.

After making sure my son was in good hands I followed Sophia back to her small office in the back of the shop. As soon as the door was closed behind us I turned to look at her.

"Sophia, what is it?"

Sophia beamed her brown eyes sparkling.

"I think I found him!"

I frowned.

"Him, who?" I asked.

Sophia grinned again rolling her eyes.

"Our donor silly!"

She motioned me to sit behind her computer in the corner of her cramped office. Clicking over from the screensaver the page came up on the site we had been studying earlier. In grid format there were hundreds of men on the page, but all these men had one thing in common: they all had blonde hair and brown eyes.

Sophia once again peered over my shoulder.

"Second page, fourth row down, sixth one over." Sophia instructed.

The man Sophia had indicated was about what I expected. He wasn't drop-dead gorgeous but he wasn't ugly and "old" either; like some single dude in his forties that didn't have anything else better to do.

His age listed him as thirty-four, much older than Sophia or myself, but young enough that he appealed to me. Like the criteria of most of Sophia's search he had blonde hair and brown eyes, a narrow face in the square jaw. He reminded me of a boy band clone and had that squeaky clean appearance to his features. I skimmed to the rest of his profile.

He was 5'10" 169 pounds and his interests were listed as surfing, snowboarding, and mountain biking. I glanced at his state of residence; Colorado.

Instead of a name at the top of the profile there was a number; 701487.

The profile was short and to the point and nothing on the profile said whether this man was married or not, but I didn't expect it to, from my research most of these sperm donors liked to stay anonymous and the sperm banks and such websites kept it that way; more often than not we would never meet this man.

I smiled at the last line of the man's profile. Under "tell us a bit about yourself" he had written. "I made it a goal this year to help someone, if I can help some couple have a child it's the least I can do."

That did it for me, it was as if someone or something was telling me this was the guy and his comment had just about sealed it for me.

When I turned around to face Sophia I was grinning.

"Sophia! You're a genius! This guy is perfect, you'll make the inquiry won't you."

Sophia's tone was chipper.

"Just say the word babe and we have this guy's sperm on the next flight from Colorado ASAP."

I pushed back from Sophia's desk.

"Alright, let's do it." As I stood up and turned away from Sophia's desk we high fived. Sophia did a mock salute.

"Whatever you say," she placed a quick kiss on my temple, "as soon as I can get another break I'll send the email okay, but right now I have to get back to work. I'll be home a little after six."

Byron and I left shortly after. Since Sophia's revelation and our decision had been made I had millions of questions spinning around in my head, least of all what I was going to tell my son about our decision to add to our family and that within a year he could he have a new brother or sister.


	5. Chapter 5-701487

**Sorry this chapter is a little late, as you can imagine I've been quite busy with my holiday plans and so I didn't have time to write it when I originally wanted to. I hope you enjoy it.**

**...**

**Chapter 5- #701487**

For Sophia and I, our first task was breaking the news that we would be expanding our family to Byron. By now he had grown accustomed to being an only child and preferably he liked it that way, at least from what I could tell.

We broke the news to him one evening as he was getting ready for bed, and his reaction was not exactly what I expected; he was a perceptive child and the fact that he hadn't picked up on our plans until now surprised me.

He looked up at Sophia and I and cocked his head his gray eyes curious.

"Baby? I'm going to have a brother?"

"Or a sister." Sophia chimed in.

"Like…" His face screwed up in concentration, "like Tommy has a brother?" (Tommy was one of his playmates from his daycare group).

I nodded, smiling. "Exactly like Tommy, you're going to be a big brother."

My son smiled, nodding in confirmation. "I'd like that."

As soon as I had closed the door to Byron's bedroom Sophia and I smiled at each other: mission accomplished.

Our plan in conceiving our second child was simple, we would go a combination of old school and new school in technique. We would wait until we could figure out when Sophia was ovulating and then we would overnight the sperm and go from there. That, however, wasn't including all the waiting in between, not to mention if it didn't happen to take. We would cross that bridge when we got to it.

In the next few weeks our bathroom was stocked with ovulation kits, which Sophia tested frequently in the next few weeks. She was going to the bathroom so often I often teased her about it, but she would only shake her head and roll her eyes at me, but after knowing her for over a year I was used to her antics by now.

For many weeks it was much of the same until a day in early April, when Sophia came out of the bathroom with a grin on her face. She shoved the ovulation test towards me.

"It's positive!" She cheered, "According to the test we have three days."

I returned her smile.

"I'll order the sperm right now."

The sperm came later the following day. It was shipped in a cooler, a small vial packed in dry ice. The vial was kept in the corner of our freezer until an appropriate time when we could do the insemination, I didn't think when Byron was running around one in our attention was a good time.

"We'll do it later tonight." I told Sophia when I had shot the freezer door.

Sophia nodded.

"Sounds like a plan, we don't want Byron walking in on that," she chuckled, "it will probably scar him for life."

I laughed, shaking my head, "Don't even suggest that, you'll give me nightmares. Now let's start dinner before Byron eats that entire box of crackers you gave him."

The house was dark by the time Sophia and I gave the insemination. Byron was sound asleep in his room and had yet to be disturbed and wake up so I figured we had a good portion of the night to ourselves.

Sophia and I got ready for bed without speaking then I brought the cooler with the vial into the bedroom. I had printed off instructions on how to do a home insemination and was following the instructions carefully from a printed sheet beside me.

"Did you get those disposable syringes like I asked?" I asked.

From where she was lying on the bed Sophia nodded.

"There's a packet of them in the nightstand." Sophia replied.

A few minutes later I retrieved the syringes, washed my hands (again) and went to work. Sophia was lying on the bed with her bare legs exposed, but I was so focused on the task at hand I barely noticed. After carefully drawing up a syringe I paused at Sophia's knee and looked at her.

"You ready?"

Sophia nodded.

"Okay… You'll feel my fingers… Just relax…"

It took me a while to figure things out and there were a few attempts where Sophia and I just laughed, but we were trying to keep it down considering our son was asleep in the next room and we didn't want to wake him. Then taking a deep breath I pushed the plunger on the syringe.

Sophia and I both seem to be holding our breath and afterwards we both exhaled.

"Okay, it says to elevate your legs for half an hour. I thought that was just an old wives tale, but apparently…"

Sophia giggled.

"Really? That seems kind of silly, but okay."

For the next half-hour we talked, talked about our hopes and dreams and those of our children in the future. After the thirty minutes was up I kissed Sophia softly.

"What does it say about me that I'm kind of turned on right now?" Sophia murmured.

"You're hormonal, or horny." I answered with a laugh.

Sophia smirked.

"Or maybe both."

We kissed, still laughing and our short soft kisses turned into much more. Over the next hour or so we made love and it was after midnight before we fell asleep. I was content as I had ever remember being for the first time in a long time.


	6. Chapter 6-The Big Question

**Chapter 6-The Big Question**

The next few weeks continued as normal, meanwhile Sophia had begun taking pregnancy tests every once in a while, but I figured she would probably know if she was pregnant or not, considering she was the one who had figured out that I was pregnant with Drake's baby in the first place.

Usually these scenarios involved Sophia going into the bathroom doing and waiting for the test and then coming out shaking her head, and it went on like this for many weeks, so we were just stuck waiting and waiting until the other shoe dropped and I wondered if it ever would.

It continued like this until one afternoon after Sophia had come home from work, and right away I knew something was wrong.

"Sophia, what is it?" I asked frowning in concern. I continued to follow her around the house while Byron watched us without speaking, looking bemused in that way toddlers often do when something is going on they don't understand.

Sophia locked us both in the bathroom before she spoke, clearly not wanting to upset my son.

"I think-I think I'm pregnant."

My eyebrows rose and I tried to contain my excitement.

"Really?"

Sophia nodded.

"I have to take a test to be sure, but I'm already having some Atrian symptoms."

Sophia waited another two days before she actually took the test and when she came out of the bathroom she was smiling.

"It's positive."

For the next few minutes we had our own mini party, jumping up and down like we're in high school again; staying just quiet enough that Byron didn't know what we were up to.

"So what you want to tell Byron?" I asked.

Sophia smirked, her brown eyes twinkling.

"Let me take care of that."

The next thing on our to do list was to find in obstetrician and\or midwife. My immediate suggestion was to use Mazie again, I had such a great experience with the older woman I wanted Sophia to have the same experience, so I got her number from my mom and made an appointment for the beginning of May. There were so many things we had to do in the next few months, but I was looking forward to all of them, even if it was only as the supportive partner

Byron had taken the news of Sophia's pregnancy well and he was just as excited as the rest of us. Since Sophia wasn't showing yet he kept asking her where the baby was (since she didn't "look" pregnant.)

"He's in there," Sophia said with a chuckle, "he's just very, very tiny."

We didn't mention to our son that the baby probably didn't even look like a baby yet, Sophia wasn't even a month along yet, and are ultrasound was in for another few weeks.

While Sophia and I were rejoicing over our exciting news something happened that brought our celebration to a screeching halt. The news came from Emery on a Tuesday morning before Sophia even walked out the door for work. As I poked my head out the kitchen window while feeding Byron his breakfast and waiting for the sitter I saw Emery's car pull away from the curb and Sophia walking back towards the house, immediately, I knew something was off.

"What is it?" I questioned, "what's wrong? What did Emery want? I thought she had an eight thirty class at the University.

Sophia chuckled dryly.

"So many questions, you're worse than Byron."

Sophia frowned as she spoke.

"Emery heard from Roman, she said he and Drake went scouting outside of town… He said they found a makeshift camp in the woods; apparently Caster and the other Traggs have been meeting, Drake thinks there's going to be some sort of uprising."

"Do you think Caster will return to town?" I asked, concerned.

Sophia frowned pursing her lips.

"It's likely," she replied, "if he wants to…" She frowned, "what's the expression…? Ruffled feathers."

I nodded somberly. This wasn't good news and just when I thought our lives were getting somewhat back to normal.

…

**Sorry this chapter is a bit shorter and the others but this is really all I had planned for this chapter. I so much going on over the holidays in the next few days I don't have a lot of time to write and the longer time I have to figure out the next chapter the better it will be.**


	7. Chapter 7- An Unexpected Wrinkle

**I felt it was important to include a chapter explaining what happened to Castor and the Traggs and what would happen to everyone if they resurfaced.**

**...**

**Chapter 7- An Unexpected Wrinkle**

The next few weeks boiled down to a lot of waiting. To add to my growing nerves and excitement about the baby I also had Emery's warning to worry about, that Castor and the Traggs were out there ready to strike at any moment.

"But what if…?" I fussed nervously, as I paced the foyer of the house as I had the habit of doing the past few weeks. I didn't even have the excuse of being pregnant.

"If they come we'll deal with it." Sophia said calmly, "Don't worry, we're safe here." Sophia glanced around, "now stop it, you're scaring Byron."

She had a point of course, so I stopped pacing only to sit down on the couch, but that didn't make me feel any better, my mind was still racing turning over what could be considered the worst-case scenario. My only bright spot in the foreseeable future was Sophia's impending doctor's appointment and the upcoming ultrasound, at the moment it was the only thing I could focus on that made me feel happy and for the moment forget the oncoming trouble.

Our other concern was how much and how many people to tell about the news of Sophia's pregnancy. Considering Sophia wasn't even a month along she was barely 2 weeks I didn't want to tell anybody in case something went wrong, there was no point in getting anybody's hopes up (including mine). This had often been a topic of discussion between Sophia and I, WHEN exactly did we tell our families we were expecting.

"I say we tell them after the first ultrasound." Sophia said firmly, "they'll want to see the picture, if there's anything to see."

"I want to wait," I replied stiffly, "there won't be much to see this first few weeks anyway, they're only checking for a heartbeat and that's it."

"What, I don't even remember you having an ultrasound tell you were almost 4 months along!" Sophia shot back.

"You know there were extenuating circumstances!" I returned shortly, "I was fighting for my life, no thanks to the mess with that doomsday device."

Sophia didn't answer, most likely because she knew I was right.

To add to my stress as I continued with school and shuffling Byron back and forth between the sitter and daycare, the outcry from the public, media and politicians concerning Atrian rights was getting louder and louder. I could no longer go past City Hall without there being crowds of protesters on the steps at any given time, it reminded me of the pictures from the 1960s of the civil rights movement I had seen in my history books. I knew, now would not be a good time for the Traggs to return or the government would find themselves fighting on two fronts one from a legal standpoint and the other from a military one. Thinking about the possible consequences made my head hurt.

Lately Roman, Drake and Emery had been looking as stressed as I felt. They had been joining Sophia at City Hall when they could and their positions remaining unchanged in the past few years. The only time any of us relaxed was when we were playing with Byron. At

the moment there were very few children in the neighborhood his age, one of his only companions was Roman's seven-year-old half-brother, but given their four-year age difference they didn't keep each other occupied for long.

At the moment I was standing on the porch in the early spring weather watching Drake play with his son listening to their laughter ringing across the yards and open streets. It was a few minutes after observing the scene I noticed Sophia standing next to me.

"What's on your mind Taylor?" She asked softly, although her eyes never left the scene before us.

I shrugged and sighed.

"Everything… The good and the bad. I wonder what our children's future will be like if the Traggs revolt again… I don't want this peaceful neighborhood turning into a war zone."

My eyes drifted from one yellow house to the next.

"I agree." Sophia replied softly and as she spoke she caressed her still flat stomach and if I looked at her just then I would have seen a single glistening tear tracking down her cheek.

At long last after almost a month it was time for Sophia's first appointment with Mazie. I was eager to see the older woman again since I hadn't seen her since Byron was about six months old.

Unlike my pregnancy with Byron, Sophia and I were able to go to Mazie's office in town. This time around I wasn't so paranoid about what people might think of the baby, although with the rising tensions about anti-Atrian feelings I was still cautious.

The birthing center and office were about how I had remembered them, warm and simple and inviting. Sophia and I were ushered into a simple bedroom, which was bright and cheerful with sunshine streaming in the window. The only thing that said it was anything but a home environment was the bits and pieces of medical equipment that were scattered around here and there.

After a few minutes Mazie appeared. She was exactly how I remembered her with her light brown gray streaked hair, her weathered features and gentle motherly appearance (although she was firm when she needed to be.)

She smiled at us.

"Hello Sophia… Hello Taylor." She beamed at Sophia looking pleased, "I see the roles are reversed now." She chuckled quietly.

Sophia gave a lopsided smile and a small shrug.

"I guess so."

"Now, Sophia, lay back please, let's see what we got here…"

Mazie's assessment was simple; the baby was healthy and Sophia was about a month along and to come back for another ultrasound in two weeks. Sophia and I were still talking about the ultrasound when we got home I had to go pick up Byron in an hour as he was currently with my mother, who generously offered to watch him so Sophia could go to her appointment and we could have some time just the two of us.

"I can't wait till my next ultrasound!" Sophia said excitedly, "you were right about being pregnant Taylor, it's wonderful!"

"Yeah," I replied, "just wait until your morning sickness sets in."

Sophia was about to reply when the phone rang.

"Hello?" I answered distractedly, my mind still on my conversation with Sophia.

"Oh Taylor!" The voice of Emery Whitehill reached my ears, "Glad I caught you, I talked to your neighbors about an hour ago and they said you were out."

"Sophia had a doctor's appointment." I replied shortly.

"She alright?" Emery asked, seeming to have forgotten why she was calling in the first place, concern evident in her voice.

"She's fine… Nothing you need to worry about." I replied absently, "What is it Emery?"

There was silence on the line, and for a minute I thought she had hung up.

"Emery? What is it? What's wrong?"

"Roman came with news this morning…" Emery said softly, "fairly early if you must know, although I'm surprised I didn't know sooner considering I'm over at his house as often as I can be." She chuckled under her breath.

"What?" I was getting impatient now, "what is it Emery?" I hadn't known my friend to be such a dither usually she was more to the point than this.

"It's Castor." Emery finally replied slowly. "Roman says he's on his way back with a group of Traggs… They should be in town by nightfall."

I almost dropped the phone, but finally I found my voice.

"Thanks Emery, thanks for letting us know. Okay, keep us posted." Then I hung up the phone.

Sophia knew something was wrong as soon as she saw my face.

"What is it Taylor? You're white as a sheet!" She rushed over cradling my face in her hands trying to gently rubbing my trembling shoulders.

"It's Castor-" I finally managed from between trembling lips, "he's back."


	8. Chapter 8-An Unexpected Visitor

**Chapter 8-An Unexpected Visitor**

When the doorbell rang some twenty-four hours later after my conversation with Emery I didn't think much of it. I figured it was either Roman or even Sophia's mom, but I stopped short when I saw the person on the other side of the door.

Roman's uncle Castor hadn't changed much in the past few years, he was thinner; gaunt looking but there was still that ambition behind his dark eyes, a look neither Roman or Sophia had ever possessed.

"Sorry to intrude… Taylor is it? I was hoping to speak to my niece."

I was taken aback by his calm tone and request, but I quickly found my voice putting on a bravado I was far from feeling.

"She's out." I said stiffly, it's Saturday so she should be back by one or so… She has a shop in town now." I knew I was rambling but I didn't care, anything I could do to keep him from descending on my peaceful household like a locust.

Castor nodded.

"That's nice, mind if I come in and wait, it shouldn't be too long."

My head bobbed although I didn't remember doing so and I stepped aside to let him in. This was hard to do however given Byron was at my heels looking up at the stranger with a mixture of uncertainty and curiosity.

It was only after he was seated Castor seemed to notice my son.

"Hello," he said pleasantly, "who's this?"

"This is my son, Byron."

"Half Atrian?" He asked, his eyes going to the markings that trailed from under my son's ear and disappeared into his sweater. "Who's his father? My nephew?"

"No, Drake… He was born a couple of years ago… After you disappeared."

Castor nodded.

"I see. Good name Byron, I had a cousin by that name… Not such a common name in this world, but not unheard of."

I had no idea why my partner's uncle was sitting in my living room making small talk when I knew he had more to his agenda then he was saying. I glanced out the window praying that Sophia would be home soon and I wondered once again why I hadn't just given Castor the address to Lollies and sent him on his way.

So I waited.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I finally heard the key in the lock, I heard Sophia's voice before I saw her.

"Taylor, I'm home…" She stopped in the doorway when she saw Castor in the living room, she was still holding Byron and looked like she was about to drop him looking from Castor to me and back again.

"Hello Uncle Castor," she said calmly, "funny seeing you here… How did you find my house."

Castor shrugged nonchalantly.

"Word gets around…" Castor replied, "funny I didn't hear about your living situation with your ah…_ girlfriend."_

Sophia stiffened as she placed Byron on his feet again.

"That's not usually something I readily mention." She replied in an uncharacteristically stiff tone.

"Not even to family?" Castor asked in a tone that made my skin crawl.

"You stopped being my family when you tried to kill my brother." Sophia replied, "and unless there was something you wanted I suggest you leave."

"I'm finished here," Castor said quietly as he rose to his feet, "I guess I only see fit to warn you war is coming, bigger and more terrible than what the Traggs could ever do last time… We will have our place and you're either with us or against us."

Sophia and I looked at each other and I could clearly see the fear in her eyes I was sure was in my own.

"And if we don't." Sophia asked boldly.

"You'll be killed along with the rest of the humans… As I mentioned to Roman the last time we spoke."

Sophia looked like she was going to say something seemed to think better of it.

Then Castor left the house only giving Byron and I a passing glance, it was only after the door had shut behind him that I rushed into Sophia's arms and cried.

"What are we going to do?" I asked later that evening as I paced our bedroom, "We just don't have Byron to consider but the new baby as well."

Sophia nodded biting her lip, and reflexively I saw her stroke her stomach.

"We have to get out of here, once the Traggs find out the sector has been destroyed-if they don't know already-it will lead them here and we're only a few miles from where the old sector was… These houses are not that hard to miss."

"So where do you suggest we go?" Sophia asked, "it's not like we can move, we don't have anywhere else to go Taylor."

"We go to my mother's house, no one will look for us there, they know the Atrians go outside of the housing project, but they won't be looking for them in the human households."

"The what does that matter?" Sophia asked, "Castor sees most of us as a threat, human or Atrian… If we don't conform to his ideals…"

"We go to my mother's house," I repeated, "it's the only option we have."

The next morning, Sophia and I packed and afterwards I called my mother explaining the situation the best I could.

"Can we stay with you for a while, just until this entire thing blows over. We're not safe mom, particularly in the housing unit."

My mother quickly agreed to my plan and after talking for a few more minutes I made a ready things at the house so we could be gone for a while.

"Are we going on a trip?" Byron asked, his expression quizzical.

"No sweetie," Sophia explained gently, "that man who was just here wants to hurt us and our friends and family, so we're going to stay with grandma until it is safe."

My son only nodded, only grabbing his backpack and stuffed dinosaur Drake had bought him at an amusement park when he was one. Even after only three years the toy had seen better days, probably because Byron took it with him everywhere. I smiled to myself as my son made himself ready to leave, he looked like he was running away from home with his favorite toy and his little backpack with his favorite cartoon characters on it.

We arrived at my mother's house without incident and from there everything felt normal, normal conversation and a normal routine even though it was far from being so.

"I'm calling Emery," I told Sophia as I picked up my cell phone, "she has to know about this if she doesn't already, particularly about Castor coming in the house. I'll see if Roman can give us any insight."

Sophia nodded.

"You do that, I'm not feeling so great, I think I'm going to go lie down for a bit." With that, she disappeared into the back of the house.

"And he was in my house!" I exclaimed over the phone to Emery, "Cool as you please making small talk-SMALL TALK!"

"Was there anything in particular he wanted?" Emery asked concerned, "why didn't he come to Roman, it was Roman he was after last time."

"I don't know… He definitely didn't approve of my living situation with Sophia or of Byron being half Atrian. It doesn't fit into his "ideals"

"It's like Nazi Germany all over again." Emery muttered.

I murmured in agreement.

"Are you safe?" Emery asked next.

I looked around my mother's living room at the modest suburban house.

"For now." I answered.

When I found Sophia later she was lying in the bedroom with Byron curled up next to her. He was absently tracing patterns on her stomach, humming tunelessly to himself in a way only a child could.

"I love you baby." He whispered to Sophia's belly, "It's kind of scary right now, but most of the time here it's pretty good, we live in a pretty house with a big yard and sometimes my dad comes over to play. Not your dad though, mommy and mama says he lives far away and he doesn't know who you are."

I smiled at my son's logic. For a child everything was simple black-and-white, good or bad… If only the situations Sophia and I faced were that simple.


	9. Chapter 9-Light in the Darkness

**This chapter ended up being much longer than I anticipated.**

…

**Chapter 9-Light in the Darkness**

Sophia and I tried to continue our daily routine as normally as possible, but that was hard considering we were both looking over our shoulder as if we expected Castor and the Traggs to drop in on us at any moment.

"Taylor, we're not the only ones in danger and there are many more Atrian families that aren't as lucky as us; some don't even have any living relatives." Sophia was quick to remind me, which decreased my fussing about the situation considerably. I felt as chagrined as an American going to a Third World country and not even feeling deserving of my every day freedoms when there were so many that had so much less.

I could tell despite his daily routine of going to daycare Byron was getting restless as well, my mother would only smile at him and shake her head or as she mentioned casually when I got home from work the Monday after we had moved in:

"He keeps asking when he can go home." She said with a sad smile.

I sighed running a hand through my (now tousled) blonde hair. At the moment, I had no answer for my young son.

One of the few things distracting me from the turmoil brewing in town were the constant updates from Emery, Roman, and Drake. They were trying to push through so many new laws I had trouble keeping them straight.

"I need an ordinance to add on to the house!" I exclaimed, "where we supposed to put the baby's nursery in the linen closet!"

"That should have been their first priority!" Emery was indignant on my behalf, "if they make it a problem to add on to these houses, then what are they can do about population growth? Since when does that benefit anybody?"

"Let's worry about passing the laws that are going to keep the Traggs off our butts first." Drake muttered, "they're already pissed enough that the sector was moved, which is stupid because they blew up in the thing in the first place."

"What about our opposition?" Sophia asked, "half our problem is the _humans_ that oppose us being here, limiting our rights and every day freedoms."

Emery and I nodded in response to the statement, it didn't make sense to us either.

"We got things passed for driving and university integration," Emery reminded us, "I don't see why we should be able to push this stuff through."

"Well, you've got 9 months," I told them, "if that."

The only thing Sophia and I had to look forward to was her upcoming ultrasound. I had literally been crossing off the days till her appointment on a calendar in the hall, my mom thought I was a little ridiculous but I didn't care.

Sophia left Karen and the others in charge the morning of her appointment, I had been around her other employees for over a year by now and knew she trusted them with her life. Karen had only smiled as she shooed Sophia out the door.

"Go on, go to your appointment," she urged, "Mark, Lori and I have everything under control."

"You know how Friday's are…" Sophia began.

"Yes I know," Karen interrupted, "believe me we can handle it." She gave Sophia an encouraging smile.

I wasn't used to seeing my partners so flustered, usually she was more put together than this but I figured she was just nervous.

As Sophia headed towards the waiting car (we were taking her car; I had left my car in student parking at the University and had taken the bus from school to the shop) Karen had one last parting comment.

"Don't forget to bring a picture."

The birthing center was as cheerful and lively as ever, but on a Friday morning it was about as busy as I had ever seen. While the midwives ran to and fro with two women in labor and half a dozen others waiting for appointments the place was hopping.

"Busy today?" I asked Mazie when she finally appeared to start the appointment.

The older woman chuckled.

"You could say that."

A few minutes later Mazie was moving the doppler around on Sophia's stomach, listening carefully.

"I'm hearing a little bit of an echo, it could just be her uterus, or we may have two heartbeats in there."

I blinked in surprise.

"Twins?"

Mazie made a soft noise in the back of her throat.

"Hmm… Possibly, I'd have to check on a monitor to be sure, sometimes it's hard to tell from just the doppler itself."

A few minutes later she had wheeled in a portable ultrasound machine on a small cart, connected a few cables and started poking around on Sophia's stomach again.

"Now, where are we…" She muttered.

After while she just stopped and smiled. From where I was sitting next to Sophia I saw a single what looked like a little jumping bean on the left side of the screen.

"See there's one heartbeat, and over here," she moved the doppler slightly, "is the second baby. we're looking at one sac so you're having identical twins, it's too early to tell the sex of course."

I had read in my research before the insemination that multiples were a possibility, but I didn't think it would actually happen to us, we barely had enough room in the house as it was… I might have to talk to Gloria (my former high school principal) about seeing if I could get an addition put on the house I would need at least another couple rooms.

Gloria, had been working with the government since my sophomore year in high school to better things for the Atrians since the integration program in 2024. Even almost 3 years later things weren't exactly where pro Atrians groups wanted them, Atrians were still unable to own property and were solely dependent on the government for housing even if they were able to support themselves and their families. Even if the house Sophia and I lived in was under my name I was still subject to these rules just because of Sophia.

Sophia and I drove back to Lollies with huge smiles on our faces. We hadn't stopped grinning at each other since we had gotten back into the car.

"I think my day just got ten times better!" I said.

Sophia returned my enthusiasm, her brown eyes sparkling.

"Yeah, mine too."

We had decided to keep the news of the twins to ourselves (for now) so we fended off Karen's questions about how the ultrasound had gone, only saying that the "baby" was healthy and there were no problems.

Karen studied Sophia critically.

"He's going to be a big one by the looks of it."

Sophia and I just smiled.

The only person we told the news of the double pregnancy was my mother. Our circle of people we were telling about the pregnancy was slowly getting bigger, but still that only extended to our families although there were many people I would've trusted with the information but I didn't want to get anyone's hopes up.

"So how did the doctor's appointment go?" My mother asked when Sophia and I got home from work sometime after 5 PM.

"It went… Well." I replied carefully, and Sophia and I exchanged another smile.

"What?" My mother asked, "I know that look, there's something else isn't there."

I sighed, realizing I might as well just tell her.

"… Only we found out today you're going to have 2 grandchildren to spoil instead of just one." I said with a small smile.

"And we need a bigger house." Sophia added with a laugh.

"Twins? You're having twins?" My mother responded, a look of shock on her face, clearly she had been expecting the news about as much as we had.

She chuckled.

"I definitely wasn't expecting that. I think I need to sit."

With the "big surprise" out of the way I turned my attention to more pressing matters, more importantly how to make room for the 2 new additions to our family, since it was now going from three to five. Saturday morning when I had time to think I went into the living room and started searching the desk for the contacts Sophia had kept over the past few years, and after looking through many shelves and drawers I finally found the cell phone number of our old school principal.


	10. Chapter 10-The Protest

**Chapter 10-The Protest**

It was late in the afternoon when I finally got through to Gloria. After the busy day I had, with school and work I just wanted answers and fast.

She answered on the fourth ring, just when I was sure the phone would go to voicemail.

"Hello this is Gloria." She answered in a professional tone I had grown accustomed to over the past four years.

"Hi… Gloria…" I began cautiously, "not sure if you remember me, this is Taylor Holland."

"Taylor… I'm kind of surprised to hear from you, how did you get this number?" My former principal asked.

"Sophia had it I got it from her." I explained.

"I see." Gloria replied in a monotone. "What can I do for you Taylor."

"I have a problem." I began, then proceeded to explain my dilemma as briefly as possible, the Atrian legislation, Sophia's pregnancy and the situation with our house.

Gloria was quiet for a long moment as if she were absorbing what I had just told her.

"First, tell Sophia "congratulations" from me, second of all I don't directly work with the legislation, my reach only goes towards the integration program Sophia's father started, I can't guarantee what I say can push through these laws any faster."

"But it's stupid!" I exclaimed, " Why can't they just let the Atrians do stuff, it's hindering so many people's lives!"

"I know Taylor." Gloria's voice softened, "Some people during the civil rights movement in the 1960s would have argued the same thing."

"Then they end up treating me exactly how they're treating her!" I continued, "I'm not even Atrian, and don't even get me started on the looks that people give Byron, he's only three years old and people are looking at him like he's some sort of abomination!"

"Some, no matter how injust their opinion may be, would argue he is. Anything unusual people, up against they automatically see as abominable or unusual." Gloria replied.

"Then add my relationship with Sophia on top of that," I continued, "and people act like we have the plague."

Gloria chuckled lightly, although there was little humor in her tone.

"I commend you for being so open about your relationship with her, that took courage Taylor, even if she wasn't Atrian."

"Yeah, it did." I replied, "it took a few months to get everyone on the same page, but it worked… so far. We live together now, and we're trying to have as normal of a life as possible."

"That's good." Gloria replied pleasantly. "About your other request Taylor, I'll do my best, but it takes months if not years to pass things like this."

I sighed. "Wish I had that luxury, but we've got 9 months, our house as is his barely big enough for the three of us and there's barely enough room for one baby let alone two."

"I'll see what I can do." Gloria repeated.

"Thank you." I replied, "I am grateful, I just don't want my family to end up on the street."

"I understand." Gloria replied, "I commend you Taylor, most people your age wouldn't know how to deal with what you're going through, that's a lot for one person to take on."

I smiled.

"Thanks."

We talked for a few more minutes, I told her about being evicted from my own home and temporarily living with my mother and as always, Gloria was motherly and encouraging and I hung up feeling better than I had an hour before. Then I waited for Sophia to come home so I could tell her about my conversation.

When Sophia finally did come home she barely said hello to Byron before she burst into the kitchen.

"Turn on the Channel 9 news-now!" She instructed.

I did as I was told without asking, wondering what had gotten her so agitated.

The scene on the flat panel TV was a mob of protesters marching on what I knew to be Capitol Hill and instantly I knew this was big.

"What the world…?" I muttered.

I continued to watch the broadcast with a kind of horrified fascination.

"Protesters from southern states as far as Eastern Texas marched on Capitol Hill today," the news caster began, "like the civil rights movement before it, these protesters continue to show their views for Atrian reform, particularly at its epicenter in Louisiana. The United States hasn't seen protests like this since the protest of gay marriage between 2008 and 2013. Most famously the civil rights movement and segregation of African Americans. When else in history has a minority been so openly ostracized simply for being different."

As soon as the broadcast had ended I clicked off the TV.

"So this is what it is coming to." I looked at Sophia, "what were they trying to pass today?"

"Someone was pushing for a law to allow us to move outside of Louisiana, and it only attracted protesters from the other states because they think it's "weird"." Sophia made a face. If anything the plight of her people had made her more passionate and serious.

"What about the state ordinances?" I asked.

Sophia pressed her lips together pushing a strand of her dark hair behind her ear.

"Like a snail in molasses." She replied.

I smiled at her choice of words.

"So what are you going to do?"

"Keep bugging the mayor and representatives, between here and Baton Rouge until their sick of me." Sophia replied firmly.

I chuckled, kissing her cheek.

"Aren't they already sick of you?"

"Everyone but their secretaries." Sophia replied, "besides, I got Emery, Roman and Drake to back me up."

"Alright, but just be careful."

That Saturday, Roman and the others had organized a protest in front of City Hall, but unlike the scene I had seen on the news a few days prior it wouldn't be as dramatic-at least I hoped not.

We had only been marching in front of the steps for about fifteen minutes when there was an explosion and large amounts of dust and debris. Within a few minutes I realized this wasn't just dust and debris but someone had thrown smoke bombs into the crowd which only made people more disoriented. I could barely tell what was going on, I couldn't see anything.

"It's the Traggs!" Roman yelled over the increasing noise, his ice blue eyes were red rimmed from the smoke and dust and I knew he was searching the crowd for Sophia, Drake and Emery.

"Find Sophia!" I screamed, "let's get out of here!"

It was hard to determine where the noise was coming from. The air was so foggy, smoky and hazy it was hard to tell who was firing at who and who was hurt or dead. Over the noise, I could dimly hear police sirens, but I continued to elbow my way through the crowd trying to find Roman and Sophia. Suddenly someone crashed into me from behind and I fell to the ground and after that I thought for sure I was a goner. I would probably be trampled to death, but then someone grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the chaos. I could feel concrete underneath me and wasn't even sure where the person had pulled me, but afterwards I was tired of trying to keep my eyes open my head throbbed and my ears still running with the chaos, I was glad when darkness finally overtook me.


	11. Chapter 11-Damages and Relief

**Chapter 11-Damages and Relief**

My next conscious thought was of all over radiating pain. I felt as though someone had used me as a punching bag or run me over with a bus-or maybe both. I was just getting used to this idea wondering what I was going to do about it when a cheerful faced nurse walked into the room.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Holland, glad to see you're awake." She said with a smile. I didn't see how she could be so cheerful when I felt so miserable, but I guess that's what people in hospitals were trained to do-to make you feel better.

I groaned in response. As I reached up to touch my head, I felt a bandage under my fingers.

"What happened?" I asked blearily.

"You got a nasty bump on the head and took a bad fall." The nurse explained, I'm afraid that was only aggravated by the fact the crowd panicked when the smoke bombs were set off. Ever since that happened this morning, we've been kind of busy." She gave me a thin smile. "You have a pretty good concussion Ms. Holland, headaches and memory loss aren't uncommon in your case, but I would take it easy for the next couple of days, we're keeping you here for a while just to be safe."

I was about to nod and immediately regretted the action.

"Sophia!" I gasped, with another quick motion that sent another stabbing pain through my body, "the babies!" Seeing the nurses confused look, I hurriedly explained. "My partner, she's pregnant."

"I don't know, she may be on the maternity floor, but I can check for you."

I gave the nurse a wobbly smile as she exited the room.

"Thank you."

A few hours later my first visitor was my mother, holding her hand tightly looking slightly worried was Byron.

"Mommy are you alright?"

"Yes sweetheart, mommy just bumped her head." I made the explanation simple, I thought it was best to spare my young son the details.

"You okay?" My mother asked looking concerned.

"As well as I could be, I guess." I replied, "They tell me I have a concussion and I have to take it easy for the next few days."

My mother nodded.

"Have you heard about Sophia?" My mother asked.

"No, not yet and I don't know where Roman and the others ended up and how badly everyone is hurt."

"Will find answers, don't you worry," my mother said soothingly, "you just rest now… I'll take care of Byron."

It was almost 2 days later before Roman, Sophia and the others, including myself were well enough to socialize. Some had been injured more severely than others and there had been a few casualties from the guns that had been fired randomly into the crowd.

"What's the death toll?" I asked as soon as Roman, Emery and the others made their way into my room.

"They're saying thirty or more." Roman replied, he had a splint across the bridge of his nose and I figured he had broken it. Beside him, Emery had her arm in a sling and was walking gingerly.

"What happened to you." I asked her.

"Broken collarbone and a few bruised ribs." Emery replied, then winced. "You?"

I sighed.

"Concussion."

Just as I finished speaking Drake appeared behind Roman. He looked like he had met with the wrong end of someone's fist one half of his face was badly bruised and one eye was practically swollen shut. He had cuts all over his face and neck.

"How Sophia?" I asked.

"She's okay, little banged up and she has a broken arm, but okay." Roman replied, "By the way, Taylor you didn't tell me my sister was pregnant."

I grinned sheepishly.

"Yeah, we were kind of keeping that to ourselves I just wanted to make sure there were no problems before I started telling people."

Roman nodded, still looking serious.

"From what they told me the babies are fine, but they are keeping her another day or so for observation."

I smiled.

"Thanks Roman, Sophia means a lot to me, and I would hate it if something happened to her."

With the increasing pressure from the Traggs reinforcements were called in. Military personnel were placed around the housing complex as a safeguard, although I felt that would do little to protect the people in question. The Traggs just didn't want Atrians, they wanted humans as well; so no one was safe. Police patrol was increased to almost double or triple on a daily basis, the mayor was taking no chances although I figured if he ever met with Castor it wouldn't be that simple.

"They think that's going to solve anything!" I exclaimed as I paced my mother's kitchen a few days later after being released from the hospital the previous Friday. "If the Traggs have any policy it's shoot first ask questions later, they're not playing favorites anymore. What is this going to mean for the children in the housing unit, they can't go out and play not with big men marching around with machine guns! Seriously! What is the government thinking!"

My mother sighed.

"They want a quick fix, in their minds they got bigger fish to fry than a few regional disputes with an alien race."

"Regional disputes!" I shouted, "is that what they're calling it, displacement, unequal rights and terrorism! A regional dispute?" I had clearly become more passionate about politics in the past two years, or maybe Sophia was just rubbing off on me.

Sophia came home a few days later. Even at only a month along she already looked pregnant and one could already see a growing bump under her shirt. I couldn't wait until our next ultrasound which was a few weeks away, more importantly I couldn't wait to find out whether we were having boys or girls and whether my son would have brothers or sisters.

Barely out of the hospital and Sophia was already organizing another protest.

"We have to be heard!" She said firmly, "If things are going to change it has to start with someone!"

Reluctantly, I agreed and we organized another march at City Hall and I had even convinced the local paper to send down a reporter or two, but instead my boss just said 'Taylor, why don't you cover the thing, I'll even give you a byline if you want'. Either he was desperate or he really did believe in me. It would my first major news story I had done since joining the small paper, and for the first time in as many days I came home with a smile on my face.

The protest was scheduled for next Friday afternoon. I wasn't going to lie I knew a lot of people would be looking over their shoulder waiting for the Traggs to interfere again, but I also knew Sophia was too determined, pregnant or not, to listen to reason. She was still running like a well oiled machine regardless of morning sickness, and I knew she was keeping a stiff upper lip.

We marched for forty minutes until a few cops, as well meaning as they were, firmly, but kindly told us to go home, we had made our point.

I was still riding on a high from the success of the protest when my cell phone rang a few hours later. I glanced at the caller ID, it was Gloria.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hello Taylor, sorry I haven't called you back yet, but I was looking into that thing for you and I think I have a solution."

"What is it?" I asked eagerly, my heart suddenly beating very fast.

"You can get a house building kit, they are slightly cheaper than building from the ground up but they still are quite pricey depending on how big the house is."

Suddenly my mind was spinning with questions.

"What is this?" I asked. "I've never heard of stuff like this." I said.

Gloria chuckled, her voice warming.

"I didn't think you would have, but I thought it would be a good fit for you, Sophia and the kids."

"I'm not asking for a big house, maybe just two or three bedrooms, I technically only need one more room. As big as the yellow house, but with one extra room."

"The house you're looking at would cost between 30,000 to 50,000 dollars."All you really need is the land, but that may not be possible right now, even if I could convince a few people it wouldn't matter if there was a lesbian interracial couple living a few miles outside of government housing." Gloria replied.

I swallowed.

"We don't have that kind of money, even if all that was required was to put the pieces together, it's a bit more complicated than that."

"I'll check to see if there's a piece of land available somewhere outside of the housing unit, and even if there is… I'm not making any promises, but it's all I can do for now Taylor."

"I understand." I murmured.

Hanging up the phone I drifted back into the living room where Sophia was sitting on the couch. She had been low-key ever since she had returned home from the hospital, still she looked a bit peaked and green.

She managed a smile.

"Why so gloomy?" Sophia asked.

My shoulders slumped.

"I've just been handed the impossible, we need a house and I may have a solution, but we need money lots of it… Can you think of any way to magically raise thirty thousand dollars?"


	12. Chapter 12-Sophia's Plan

**Chapter 12-Sophia's Plan**

"So what do you want to do?" Sophia asked, as she lay back on the couch, propping her hands on her growing belly.

I laughed dryly.

"Anything! We can do a lemonade stand for all I care!"

To my surprise Sophia was smiling.

"Actually that may not be a bad idea."

"So what are you telling me, we sell lemonade until we're blue in the face and we make thirty thousand dollars?"

"To fill in the gaps in our income, I don't see why not." Sophia answered. "I make enough money at the shop," Sophia reasoned, "but it's not enough, not for our living expenses, your schooling, and paying for a new house let alone any doctor bills from the pregnancy."

I nodded slowly.

"Fine, but I just want to touch base see where we are financially, see if we can talk to a financial advisor before we jump headfirst into this.

Sophia nodded.

"Okay, I can make the appointment to meet you after work, your mom can watch Byron and if not we can see about getting a sitter… It shouldn't take too long."

The following Thursday found Sophia and I in a financial advisor's office. In a Manila folder Sophia was holding copies of our essential financial records. There was proof of our income and how much money we spent. It's not that we needed help, we were getting plenty of that; we just needed some advice about what to do next and which direction to go. We were after all not even twenty and had more on our plates than most people our age.

A few minutes later a woman called us back to her desk. She looked to be between thirty and forty had shoulder length strawberry blonde hair and hornrimmed glasses perched on the end of her very small pointed nose. I figured she was one of those kids that had been teased when she was growing up for her red hair and freckles.

As soon as we were in her office she invited us to take a seat and shook both of our hands.

"Marcella Haggerty," She said with a smile, "how can I help you?"

I was glad in that moment when it was Sophia who started the conversation.

"My-partner and I would like to be able to build our own house, we have a plan in place to do so but we would like to know the best way to balance earning that money with the expenses we are currently experiencing."

Marcella nodded as she sat down behind her desk and took the folder that Sophia handed her. She looked it over for a few minutes before she nodded.

"Well, everything seems to be in order. I certainly have no problem with you buying a house, your credit is good…" She glanced at Sophia and I saw her eyes dart to the markings on her neck-knowing she was Atrian but not saying so. "Sophia, I see you own your own business, that doing well?"

"Very well." Sophia answered promptly.

"Sure I see no problems with this, as long as you know where you stand financially and how much you can afford… Buy your house, have your family." Her eyes took in Sophia's pregnant belly.

So that was that. Our only issue now was the law that prevented Atrians from living outside the housing unit. Our only other option was for Sophia to have her markings removed, which she wasn't willing to do, she was proud of who she was and she wasn't going to change that.

"So what do you want to do now?" I asked as Sophia prepared spaghetti, meatballs and a salad for dinner.

"I like the lemonade stand idea," she said, "but we need to go bigger like a townwide bake sale or a car wash-or both."

"I don't see why not," I replied, "but who's going to make all those things, I certainly can't bake that well, cook well enough to run a house, yes, but baked goods other people are actually going to eat? No way!"

Sophia laughed.

"Well alright then, I can talk to a few people at work and around town and see if anyone's interested in contributing and our moms will help I'm sure. I can make chocolate chip cookies," Sophia laughed again shrugging one shoulder, "but that's about it."

We literally asked everyone we knew and could think of and most of them agreed to help when we explained what we were trying to do. I even enlisted Byron's help to help decorate a banner for the bake sale. The bake sale was scheduled for the third Saturday in May, the week before Sophia went back for her next ultrasound. I knew we wouldn't have the money overnight, but between everything else we could at least try.

We had a few thousand in savings, but most of that money would go towards hospital bills and doctor expenses for Sophia's pregnancy and as much as Lollies was booming the money was spent as quickly as it was earned.

The morning of the bake sale dawned surprisingly sunny. Along with selling baked goods, Sophia and I were also selling punch and lemonade. If everyone bought a little bit of everything we could have over eight hundred dollars. It wouldn't put a dent in the money we needed but along with the money we already had it was a good start.

Lines of people milled up and down in front of our house. It was probably the first time most of the citizens had been inside the Atrian housing unit. If anything, it reminded them that the Atrians were just like them. Most of the people were looking around with interest but they didn't say anything. There were only a few older women that were whispering amongst themselves and making weird faces like they had smelled something rotten.

"… I hear she's a lesbian too, not that it's my place to say, but really. That poor little boy growing up in that house, no male influence at all, technically she is an even his mother and the fact that they're not even twenty yet… Really."

It was comments like that that made me want to punch something not just because of Byron but because of Sophia too. Sophia, if she heard anything didn't respond, she just kept smiling pointing out baked goods and taking money. Not only was the bake sale making money but it was good publicity for Lollies as well, practically every person that did business with Sophia either knew about the shop or was hearing about it so I figured the shop would get even more business, which meant more money for us.

I was passing another one of the tables when Sophia grabbed my arm.

"That woman just bought six things!" Sophia squealed, she was grinning widely as she put another handful of cash into the cashbox. I gave her a brief hug before returning to my post at another table where I was selling pies, lemon squares and brownies.

We closed the bake sale shortly before 5 PM, and when the last person had finally departed Sophia and I gathered up the money and returned to the house as Drake and Roman were collapsing the tables we had borrowed. Later after we had dinner, which was a bit of a struggle because we been snacking on sweets all day, Sophia and I counted the money. We had a little under a thousand dollars.

From across the table we grinned at each other.

"Never underestimate the power of sugar." I said dryly.

Sophia glanced at her watch.

"It's after five the bank will be closed by now, I'll put this in the top drawer of the dresser and take it to the bank in the morning." She showed the money back in the envelope and cashbox we were keeping it in.

"So what now?" I asked.

"What about that car wash you mentioned?" Sophia chimed in.

"I was kidding!" I replied defensively with a self-deprecating laughed, "I mean, that's something we would have done in high school!"

"Why not?" Sophia asked, "we can make it fun, draw crowd like we did with the bake sale and plus, I'm getting tons of business for Lollies, everybody and their brother knows about the store now." Under her dark bangs is saw the beginnings of another smile inched across Sophia's face.

"What?" I asked.

"I know a way we can really get people talking with this car wash thing."

"How?" I asked, puzzled.

"Bikinis." Sophia answered with a smirk.

…

**This wasn't my favorite chapter to write, and it ended up being a lot shorter than I originally intended but that's the way the story ended up pacing itself. I chose to break up the story line about Sophia and Taylor earning the money to buy the house it worked better.**


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